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Canterbury Bells

Canterbury Bells represent Gratitude in the Language of Flowers

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

I have read so many good books lately I couldn’t decide
which one to review.It was a toss
up between The Secret Keeper by Kate
Norton and The Obituary Writer by Ann
Hood.(I don’t know about you but
any title that contains the word “secret” draws me like a magnet---maybe it was
that early Nancy Drew conditioning.)

Then I realized these two books have several common
elements.Both tell the
story from two points of view spanning many years and generations; both are
fiction yet

use specific historical events as their framework; both are
passionate love stories dealing with loss and grief; both contain deathbed
confessions between mothers and daughters; and both would make great book club
choices, especially multi-generational discussions.Oh, did I mention murder and unfaithfulness?Sure to spice up any discussion.

In the Obituary Writer,
the narrator is twenty- three-year-old Vivian, telling her story in 1919 after
she survived the Great San Francisco Earthquake. She kisses her lover David
good-bye as he leaves for work on the morning of April 18, 1906 at 5:00 A.M.
Twelve minutes later, her world is turned upside down in two ways. Not only does the city crumble; it sends
Vivian on a thirteen-year quest for David, who she wholeheartedly believes
survived the earthquake and is wandering around with amnesia from an injury,
possibly a blow to the head.During
these years, she discovers she has a gift for writing obituaries that capture
the true essence of a person beyond their vital statistics. She is sought out by many who come to
her in their grief to pay tribute to their loved ones. Perhaps it is her own
sense of loss that allows her to be so compassionate and empathetic.

The alternating story chapters in Obituary takes place 2000 miles away in Virginia and forty-two
years later, 1961.The narrator is
Claire, early twenties, married to Peter, one of the few civilians working at
the Pentagon. Kennedy has just been elected president and author Hood so
effectively portrays the hopeful tone of the country and the fervor caused by America’s
infatuation with Jackie. In suburbia,
Claire’s friends are hosting inauguration day parties with contests like who
can choose the color Jackie will wear at the inauguration ceremony. One review says the author dropped a few
too many product names in her effort to re-create the 60’s, but having been
Claire’s age myself at that time I found it authentic and pleasantly
reminiscent.For younger readers,
I think it gives an accurate picture of the times.But more importantly, this novel deals with the barriers
women faced in the early 1900’s as well as the 60’s.Both periods are on the brink of great changes for women and
the country.

As Claire’s story opens, she too experiences a seismic shift
in her life when the kidnapping of a young boy in their upscale “protected” neighborhood
causes something in her to snap. She succumbs to an affair, jeopardizing her
marriage to Peter and supposedly “perfect” life with their three -year old
daughter.

The alternating chapters flow easily with two very different
yet believable and sympathetic characters, both searching for love and meaning
in their lives. Although years and miles apart, their stories bind and unite
them in an unusual twist.No plot
spoilers here, of course, but I will say that one of the reasons I recommend
this as a book discussion is because I think the author leaves the ending open
to the reader’s interpretation.

An extra bonus are quotes from Emily Post’s Etiquette as chapter markings on how to
soothe the life of a grieving person.

The Secret Keeper
by Kate Norton also has dual narrators.The first is Laurel, age sixty-six, a successful and well-regarded
actress in London in the year 2011.When she visits her dying mother, Dorothy, to celebrate her 90th
birthday, a childhood memory is invoked by unusual remarks her mother makes in
her dementia state.She is also
clutching an old Peter Pan playbook
with an inscription from a friend and a childhood photo of two girls Laurel has
never seen before. Laurel becomes
obsessed with discovering her mother’s life before she became the mother of
five children with a bucolic existence in the English countryside...and with
uncovering the real story behind a disturbing memory her parents asked her to
keep secret from her siblings.

Laurel, at age sixteen in 1961, witnessed a shocking event from
her perch in their garden tree house while the rest of the family gathered for
a picnic birthday celebration at the nearby pond. Mother returns to the house, carrying Laurel’s baby brother,
to retrieve the special knife decorated with a red bow, used specifically for
the cutting of the birthday cake.This day however, her mother, knife in hand, brutally kills a man who
appears on their front porch. Laurel is the only witness to the murder which
the authorities conclude was self-defense as there had been a wanted pervert reported
in the area in recent months. The parents convince Laurel that it is best not
to discuss this with her younger siblings and the event is never mentioned
again.Laurel told the police what
she saw, but it is years later that she recalls she left out one important
thing she heard. The intruder called her mother by name as though he knew her
well.

The alternating story in this event is mother Dorothy’s and
the WWII years during the London Blitz.Through these flashbacks,
amidst the bombings and escapes to air-raid shelters, we learn of Dorothy’s
friendship with Vivian, her love affair with Jimmy, and a wicked blackmail plot
that goes terribly wrong.Norton’s
characters are fascinating and her plot line so engrossing, we find ourselves
totally immersed in that time period yet easily shifting to Laurel’s
present-day personal investigation, trying to piece little clues together.There is no shortage of twists and
suspense, bringing us to a culmination of Dorothy’s story and Laurel’s search.

So there you have it.Two books, four main characters in four different time periods, I think they
represent historical fiction at its best—vivid portrayals of the times told
through riveting personal stories. Final ironic trivia--both books have a main
character named Vivian and both stories have mothers celebrating a significant
birthday (one 80, one 90) which serves as the catalyst for the unraveling of
their past lives.

This is Kate Norton’s 4th novel and Ann Hood has
been writing short stories and novels since the late 80’s.If these two books are any indication,
I am looking forward to some good reading, catching up with their earlier
writings.